2008年02月22日
SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC / jack johnson
試聽: http://www.myspace.com/jackjohnsonmusic
2001年起，發行三張個人專輯和四張電影原聲帶（三部衝浪+一部動畫），唱片公司大老闆摸不著頭緒，這個衝浪選手怎會一次比一次暢銷，簽約金立刻加兩倍，然後傑克強森也立刻退回：「用錢買人買歌的想法，令我不安。」還好大老闆有慧根，改成一張空白合約：「尊重你的一切決定。」這才喚回傑克強森，讓他能安心創作。 安心創作，說來可不簡單。
首先，他成立自己的音樂廠牌Brushfire Records，廣邀同好Matt Costa、ALO等創作歌手加入，不讓環球高層干預任何音樂製作；然後，他在夏威夷的自宅蓋起名為「芒果樹」錄音室，屋頂舖滿太陽能版(專輯內附小冊有圖為證)，以太陽能發電錄製專輯，不用耗電的電腦錄音軟體, 不斷彩排演唱新歌，然後一氣呵成將歌曲錄製在盤帶上，另外，再詳加確定全世界都採用百分百再生紙印製專輯。取之於大自然，用之於好音樂，一個人的堅持，讓全世界找回音樂最初的感動與美好。傑克強森第四張個人專輯"Sleep Through The Static"，讓人佩服的五體投地。
延伸閱讀: 文 / 夏童 ...繼續閱讀
I CAN HEAR YOUR HEART / aidan john moffat
Having previously made a name for himself as the seedier half of Scottish indie legends Arab Strap, Aidan John Moffat here finds himself in distinctly more lewd territory than thealready unabashed work of his previous band. 'I Can Hear Your Heart' is a collection of poems and short stories read over a variety of music and atmospheric sounds, at turns humorous, heartbreaking and always explicit. A light narrative runs throughout, with an enclosed short story in the sleeve (charmingly entitled 'Poop') setting the scene. In amongst thespoken words, Moffat even finds time to include an accordion-led cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'Hungry Heart'.
...繼續閱讀
2008年02月20日
WAY OUT / alessandra celletti
試聽: http://www.myspace.com/alessandracelletti
New studio album from Alessandra Celletti, the Italian composer/pianist whose previous CDs include acclaimed interpretations of works by Glass, Satie and Gurdjieff.
Way Out is Alessandra's third album of original material, following Overground (1997) and Chi Mi Darà Le Ali (2006). Recorded in Rome in 2007, Way Out marks an inovative exploration of several musical styles, including vocal tracks sung by Alessandra as well as a number of her exquisite solo piano compositions. She is joined on most of the tracks by drummer Fabio Ferri, while Renzo Pin provided English-language lyrics.
Stand-out tracks include Dear To Me, Burning and Hundred Points, the latter a future pop classic complemented by a brilliant animated video clip made by Tony Sbarbaro. A unique set that defies classification, the album also features one bonus song, the beautiful title track from Alessandra's previous artist album, Chi Mi Darà Le Ali. The memorable cover image is the painting Pensando alla Guerra by artist Isobel Blank.
2008年01月30日
JAG FICK FEELING / anna jarvinen
2007年瑞典最受矚目女唱作人，宛若瑞典版貝兒與賽巴斯汀的清新奇幻魔力；前Granada樂隊歌手單飛轉型唱作人的首張個人專輯。已入圍瑞典格萊美音樂獎年度女藝人、新人、作曲家與最佳填詞四項提名！
星期一的早晨醒來，見不著陽光；濕冷的空氣中有一種令人覺得沮喪的味道，還好唱機中早早傳來了貝兒與賽巴斯汀的歌聲。仔細回過神來，從Nedgångslåten的口哨中，才驚覺這是聽見了Anna Järvinen。
外表雖不出眾的Anna Järvinen，卻有著一副猶如羊毛衫主唱Nina、貝兒與賽巴斯汀(Belle & Sebastian)般的清新甜美嗓音；在辨識度鮮明與流暢的旋律曲調下，Anna Järvinen渴望成為瑞典闊別已久的Indie-Pop、Folky-Pop新女聲。「Jag Fick Feeling」是一張帶點Lasse Lindh般鄉愁以及Pentti Saarikoski柔美獨特的民謠唱片，繼續交由Mattias Glavå操刀製作；專輯並選在夏末至冬日於歌德堡一處名為Kungssten的工業區裡取材錄製，意在讓音樂更多於親近大自然。可以想見的，Anna Järvinen在深受Brideshead Revisited、Carpenters、Elton John等音樂，以及伍迪艾倫電影、Eino Leino詩詞的薰染下，繼而譜出了Götgatan、Kan du gå、Nedgångslåten這類清新甜美的唱詠佳作。時而Folky、時而宛若爵士小品的詮釋，「Jag Fick Feeling」絕對是一部比貝兒與賽巴斯汀更加貝兒與賽巴斯汀的首張音樂創作，來自瑞典闊別已久的好聲音─Anna Järvinen。(boyethan)
2008年01月29日
JUKEBOX / cat power
王家衛 [我的藍莓夜] 預告片主題曲(THE GREATEST)原唱
收錄獻給Bob Dylan的全新作〈Song To Bobby〉‧首波主打〈New York〉
Spin評選5顆星滿分★★★★★翻唱致敬專輯《The Covers Record》續作
精采翻玩Bob Dylan、Billie Holiday、Janis Joplin、Frank Sinatra、Nick Cave影響Cat Power音樂歷程的巨星經典作品！
Time Out譽為：「最懂得詮釋之美的女唱作人」
Mojo推薦：「她棲息在別人的歌曲裡，以極具說服力的嗓音綻放光芒」
這個Chan Marshall化名的美國南方女孩，二十歲便抱著一把吉他來到紐約，三年後推出了第一張專輯，蘊含著傳統藍調靈魂的超齡嗓音混合著Bob Dylan、The Velvet Underground、Sonic Youth和Liz Phair的影響，慢慢地凝聚起一種煽情而低調的音樂美學，一次又一次用她獨樹一幟的孤獨絕美，陪伴我們度過無數寂寥深夜。不知不覺間，這著披著一頭深褐色長髮、帶著害羞青澀氣質的女孩，竟也悄悄地在樂壇闖蕩十餘多年，成為當代最具代表性的女性唱作人之一。
Cat Power曾經數度來台表演，她的聲音如〈I Found A Reason〉出現在電影【V for Vendetta】裡，如〈The Greatest〉獻聲為王家衛導演【My Blueberry Nights】預告片主題曲，更成為片場拍攝時幫助演員入戲的指定曲。在風靡Rolling Stone、Spin、Playlouder等傳媒年終榜單的五顆星滿分專輯《The Greatest》後，Cat Power推出了《The Covers Record》後的第二張翻唱致敬專輯《Jukebox》，除了重新演繹James Brown、Bob Dylan、Billie Holiday、Janis Joplin、Frank Sinatra等影響其音樂歷程名將的經典作品，還帶來了一首獻給Bob Dylan的新作〈Song To Bobby〉以及自己1998年專輯《Moon Pix》中的一曲〈Metal Heart〉全新版本。為了錄製《Jukebox》，Cat Power邀澳洲後搖滾名團Dirty Three鼓手Jim White、Judah Bauer（The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion吉他手）、Gregg Foreman（The Delta 72吉他手）和Erik Paparozzi（Lizard Music團員）組成「Dirty Delta Blues」為專輯伴奏並進行巡迴演出，更和以傳奇鄉村歌后Loretta Lynn的《Van Lear Rose》拿下葛萊美獎最佳錄音工程的Stu Sikes再度合作，攜手營造前作《The Greatest》中那般極具穿透力和迷濛韻味的浪漫質感。
2007年12月15日
ASA / asa [asha]
試聽: http://www.naive.fr/sites/asa/spip.php?page=album&lang=en , http://www.myspace.com/asaofficial
Asa grew up in Lagos, a city teeming with people and buzzing with energy but also home to a deep-rooted spirituality. Islam thrives shoulder to shoulder with Christianity in an atmosphere of tolerance, “Lagos is the New York of Nigeria. If you want to get anywhere in music, that’s where you’ll find the best opportunities, as well as the worst pitfalls.”
Asa soon signed to the Naïve label. Partnered by Cobhams, and with the new involvement of Christophe Dupouy, she produced a magnificent eponymous album: the music’s grace reflects its tempo, humour is never far from emotion, the melodies are unstoppable, the young singer’s voice and energy testify to her enormous talent. The flautist Magic Malik is also featured, shedding his light on the eleven tracks, where the almost magical simplicity of the way the melodies get under your skin should not hide the richness of the arrangements: elegant strings, perfectly placed drums and percussion, guitar — her favourite instrument — along with the Hammond organ playing the field between funk and soul. R&b rubs up against pop, with reggae also making an appearance on Fire On The Mountain, the first track released from the album, an impertinent and barely-disguised metaphor for an ignorant and indifferent world.
GOLDEN GREEN / ua
日本女唱作人UA（名字出自東非斯瓦希里（Swahili）語，旣是美麗的“花朶”同時又有暴戾的“殺戮”雙重涵義。）無論音樂風格與外形向來百變，前陣子在一個類似日本勁歌金曲的節目中看到她演唱時，除了驚訝她會上這種節目，一身波希米亞流浪者造型特立獨行，更驚豔的是她的唱功越來越好，不是高音飆低音厚嚇死人那種，而是以她對音樂的敏銳見解，渾厚沙啞的聲線，濃淡適中地將歌曲意境傳神表達，歌詞靈感緣自她前往山梨縣八嶽演唱途中，看見閃閃發光的白菜園時所受到的感動。
她的最新專輯《Golden Green》可以說以對大自然與人類的關懷出發，從第一首剛提到的，洋溢着慵懶氣息與對大自然讚美的《黃金比綠》、到以印度西塔琴與塔布拉手鼓伴奏且以奄美大島方言詮釋的島歌《鳥兒》、宛若童謠般唱出UA夢中奇幻世界的“lenon lenon/灰猿之夢”，再到“Love scene”“Paradaise alley/Ginga cafe”“Moor”等幾首極具韻味的情歌，透過UA的詮釋皆呈現別具一格的感性。
幕後製作團隊個個是實力派，赫然發現內橋和久的名字，這位早在八十年代即嶄露頭角，身兼書畫家、詩人、舞蹈家，即興演奏吉他手的奇葩，最為樂迷津津樂道的莫過於他與大友良英等合組Ground Zero，這次他為UA寫了兩首曲子，以電吉他伴奏大部分曲子，還有編曲等，沒有Ground Zero的激進噪音，換來的是提供極具聆聽性又不落俗套的音樂質感，確實令整張音樂作品的品位提升不少，也將UA獨特、優雅卻又銳利無比的魅力發揮得恰到好處。(子嬰)
延伸閱讀: http://pots.tw/node/3161
2007年11月22日
DISTANCE AND TIME / fink
試聽: http://www.myspace.com/finkmusic
Fink’s debut album for Ninja Tune, traded, at least in part, on a seismic musical shift for both artist and label, then distance and Time raises the game for both parties. This latest album is the result of a frenetic live schedule over the past year - Fink, together with bassist Guy Whittaker and drummer Tim Thornton, having played dozens of festivals, over a hundred shows, and even a Zero 7 support tour.
Here are no samples, and we’ve kept the electronic trickery to a minimum on this record. Fink think that the songs have enough gravitas and emotional punch to get through without all of that, and I was very conscious of not being a touchy-feely photocopy of someone from the seventies or whatever.
2007年11月15日
SOME THINGS JUST STICK IN YOUR MIND / vashti bunyan
Following the amazing success story of Vashti Bunyan’s recent re-emergence as an artist after an exile of over 30 years, we are proud and excited to release ‘Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind’, a comprehensive compilation of early recordings dating from the period prior to Vashti’s classic ‘Just another Diamond Day’ album which was originally released1970.
Titled after Vashti’s (Jagger/Richards-penned) debut single which opens the compilation, this double-album represents an attempt to both open out and draw a line under the past, and also to try to set the record straight about the disparity between how Vashti viewed (and still views) herself against the way she has been popularly perceived. Widely construed as a folk singer - a tag she fundamentally disagrees with - these recordings instead reveal Vashti as a pop singer, however ‘fragile’ and unique.
2007年11月1日
IN OUR NATURE / jose gonzalez
試聽: http://www.myspace.com/josegonzalez
Jose Gonzalez found critical acclaim and global attention in 2005, with 'Veneer'. The Swedish-born singer/guitarist's highly anticipated follow up arrives in the shape of 'In Our Nature'. Although similar to its predecessor in terms of style, the album has an edgier and darker tone - themes of war and wasted love are found throughout - while Gonzalez's unique vocal style provides a calming influence above the beautifully crafted guitar patterns. Singles include 'Down The Line' and a wonderful rendition of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop'
延伸閱讀: http://hk.cnmdb.com/newsent/20071014/1190683
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